Pep Guardiola made his first Champions League appearance as Manchester City manager. Photo: Getty Images/Lars Baron
All hail the sage of Santpedor. Pep Guardiola, relieved to have overcome a 12-year desire to win his third Champions League, can now be considered the greatest manager not only of his time, but of any other. This timeless character, a man to whom obsessive attention to detail seems less pathological than a priceless quirk, can finally afford a luxurious puff on one of his favorite Cuban cigars, content to have his most diabolical desire fulfilled. Winning a treble in one of Europe's top leagues is an amazing achievement in itself. It's almost impossible to do it for two.
The definition of “almost” is necessary because when you're coaching a club that has spent more than £2bn in its seven years in charge, everything becomes plausible. And yet Guardiola deserves far more than being a figurehead for some colossal corporate vanity project. He is the strength inherent in the soul of Manchester City, their spirit, not to mention their amazing success.
Sometimes City's dominance can hardly stir the blood. But in Guardiola there is one of the incorrigible romantics. He grew up a voracious reader, emulating the example of his father Valenti, whose favorite novel was Don Quixote, and even studied at the Catalan conservatory to see if his passion for music would take root. In the end, football proved to be the best canvas for his imagination. Just as he raised his Barcelona team to the standard of sophistication to which all other aesthetes are compared, he has turned City into arguably the most elegant team English football has ever seen. Now, at last, he has received his brilliant reward.
At the start of the match, there were no expectations for Guardiola in his all-black suit. Hundreds of camera lenses were pointed at him in the dugout, and hardly one was on his colleague, Simone Inzaghi. Such is the prestige he brings to the very role of manager. It's not just that Guardiola has markedly changed the way he plays, but that he's established himself as a true symbol of the touchline, a brooding presence that demands perfection at every turn.
Here he suffered for his art, living every moment with his team during the first hour filled with anxiety. Every time they lost possession, it seemed like an almost grievous personal affront, and every Ederson team underestimated one of his usually composed clearances. “Relax, relax,” he pleaded, feeling the pressure suffocate them. Whenever did you hear him issue such instructions? So often, City are able to cruise control thanks to early goals, but they seem flustered, hurried, unhappy with how many times they've slipped on a heavily watered pitch.
Guardiola and Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak Photo: AFP/Paul Ellis
As meticulous as Guardiola's planning was, he hardly dared to think about Kevin De Bruyne's injury. A quick shuffle as Phil Foden steps in and the manager furrows his brows. At least the soaring rhetoric at halftime could inspire him.
Patience: This was a virtue he extolled before the finale. He knew that the longer the match was goalless, the more City's players and fans would be tempted to panic. But while Italian teams, he explained, tended to believe that they would win if they kept the score 0-0, he would not support such an opinion on City's behalf. Until they lost, he begged his charges to keep the faith. And faith, thanks to Rodri's shootout in the goal in the 67th minute, was triumphantly rewarded.
Guardiola tends to have little time for personal praise. At Bayern Munich, he poked fun at the suggestion of a cult of personality, and when asked recently if he could describe his fundamental principles of coaching, he shrugged: “There was Lionel Messi in the past. Take Erling Haaland now. This is a blatant case of false modesty. Simply signing a whole slew of stars and hoping they will rally on the pitch is not a recipe for glory, as Chelsea has shown all too clearly. It takes a tactician like Guardiola to hone the talents of every player to perfection to bring the master plan together.
In pursuit of this treble, Guardiola turned his team to his philosophy of never resting on their laurels, always believing that excellence can be improved. Nothing escapes his attention. The players arrived here in Ataturk wearing matching white polo shirts and distressed jeans, reflecting their manager's penchant for understated chic. Given his habit of expelling anyone he thinks is fat – Calvin Phillips hasn't played a minute this season since he was accused of hauling excess timber – who's surprised?
Guardiola has not won the Champions League since Barcelona beat Manchester United in 2011. Photo: AFP/Franck Fife
While national club takeovers are one of the less instructive events in the game that cripples the competitive environment, Guardiola has propelled City into territory far beyond the reach of similarly positioned institutions. Take, for example, Paris Saint-Germain, which is as much a showcase for Qatar as City is for Abu Dhabi, but which, during Guardiola's reign at Etihad, became entangled in a string of mercenaries. Moving between Unai Emery and Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Christophe Galtier, they only reached the Champions League final once but lost. City's capture of the top prize simply highlights Guardiola's transformative influence.
Guardiola is an action that cannot be followed. City have been around since 1880 and almost half of the club's trophies have come under his command. What's next? Guardiola has the incentive to chase a triple, maybe even a quad next year, but there's a gnawing feeling that by picking up all the silver items available, he won't be tempted to go beyond the two seasons left in his path. contract. Therefore, City must enjoy this wonderful moment while it lasts. For the achievement of such a colossal magnitude is never guaranteed. It was made possible thanks to an abundance of resources, of course, but it belongs primarily to the man in black, the inimitable, incomparable Guardiola, the true genius of modernity.
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